To Adventure!
by Albedolover185
Summary: There are many things still unknown to humankind about the universe. What else is out there in the thick blackness of space? Are there any like them? Yes...and no. That's where Luther comes in. A mission was handed down to him and he has come to Earth to retrieve those that are lost as well as return what is theirs. (Posted on ArchiveofOurOwn as well and title may change.)
1. Chapter 1

_Fireworks popped and sizzled across the clear night sky as Monte d'or, the city that thrives within the harsh desert, celebrated a most joyous occasion. It was months ago that it happened; a strange anomaly was detected in space and had been predicted to land outside of Monte d'or. As it broke through the atmosphere, a trail of what was believe to be stardust erupted from it and it's impact was remarkable. An immense surge of energy ran throughout the city; generators overloaded, street lights went haywire and more electrical chaos was the result until a city-wide blackout finally occurred._

 _Scientists have tried everything to identify the strange meteorite. No manner of instrument was strong enough to measure its energy without overloading and exploding nor had there ever been a record of such a strange rock in any world history. But a great breakthrough is within the works; World-renowned archaeologist, Professor Sycamore, has delivered a machine that is believed to have enough power to crack open the meteorite and study its contents. Monte d'or awaits the triumphant result of the experiment and a brand new attraction to their fair city._

 ** _That's where I come into the picture….._**

" _What's that?"  
_ " _Is someone up there?"  
_ " _Can it be another performer?"_

 _ **A strong wind blew across the desert, catching on a black cloak as a strange person sat atop the highest building in the city. If not for the glistening specks that shone through the thick blackness of space, one wouldn't have been able to distinguish man from sky. Silver hair contrasted the man's dark attire as a sly chuckle came from his lips. His head rose high and a white kitsune masked reflected the pale moonlight. People gasped as he began to lean forward before screams were heard as the person started to freefall through the sky. When it seemed that impact was imminent, he disappeared in a burst of darkness. The people were confused and disoriented at what they had just seen until the police began to swarm the streets.**_

" _Where'd he go?!"  
_ " _Spread out find him!"  
_ " _Oh man, the chief's gonna kill us!"_

 _ **Chaos erupted in the now dwindling streets as people were ushered away into their homes, so that the police could work. Yellow tape was drawn around the area where the man disappeared, police dogs were brought out to try and find some sort of scent to follow and patrol cars blocked off all access and exit from the street. The search for the man was on, but why? What reason did the police have for the mysterious person that appeared like a sort of phantom? The answer is simple…..**_

 _ **The man had done a most heinous crime; in the scientist lab that housed the meteorite, a calling card was left behind. A yellow crescent moon lay where the meteorite once stood with the word "Astral" written in calligraphy upon it. He had stolen the meteorite….**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! My name's Luther, otherwise known as Astral.**

"COOOOOLD!"

Shrill screaming came from a distant corner of the Merchant's District as a booth was knocked over and its produce sent flying. Masks were sent flying as a young man scratched and pulled at his clothing, kicking his feet and spinning himself around in a complete circle a few times. Tan hair became coated in dirt and dust as the man continued to try and get rid of whatever was ailing him.

"Sácalo, sácalo!"

Spanish spilled from his lips like water from a faucet as he finally shook himself furiously and an ice cube fell from his shirt. A harsh glare was given at the melting cube before it was kicked across the street, leaving a trail of water in its wake. His eyes trailed onto the street to see just how many masks had fallen onto the ground before getting to work picking them up.

 **Look, I know most of these stories spawn from some sort of tragic backstory or a plot for revenge against some scientist or the other, you know, cliche stuff like that. But you won't be getting that here. The start of the story is too complicated to get into, so luckily for you, we'll just plop right in the middle of it!**

"Oi, what's all the ruckus about?!"  
"Did he fall?"  
"Mommy, look at all the pretty masks!"

People began to crowd around the clutter of masks and the teen paused in his work to clean up to look at a couple of onlookers. Sounds of awe and excitement came from many of them as they picked up to gaze at the ornately decorated Mardi-gras themed masks. Beads and jewels lined the intricate patterns on each mask, some hung feathers from their sides while others held them upon their heads.

"How much for this one here?"  
"Oh! And this one?"  
"I simply must have this one!"

A nervous smile came over the shopkeeper's face as his onlookers turned into happy customers. Prices were ranged and bargained until not but one mask was left in his arms, surrounded by large leaves of money and checks that needed cashing. Soft laughter came from behind the now demolished stand as what looked to be a robot flew into the air using small helicopter blades. A small screen displayed what looked to be a digital eye, leaking with tears as of the moment.

"What'd I tell you? I told you I could get customers here in a flash!"  
"Yes, but that doesn't excuse throwing a piece of ice down my shirt, you jerk!"

Boot met robot as the teen kicked the machine, a loud yelp coming from it as it happened. A silent sigh was given as the teen looked at the loose bits of paper in his arms; he honestly didn't expect to make this much money from a couple of masks that he had made in his basement with nothing more than a hot glue gun and stray feathers he picked up from the parade last night….

"But now we have another problem."  
"Huh? What's that?"  
"We have no idea where to cash these checks at."  
"Oh, that's easy! Just ask around! I'm sure somebody would be willing to help you find your way."  
"Well, I suppose, but-"  
"But nothing! Look, try talking to some people at the Art Gallery, somebody there is bound to know."

A small sigh came from the only organic one of the pair before he made his way to the destroyed stand. There was no way he could just leave it like this; he was pretty sure he'd be ticketed for destruction of property and littering…

As he started to clean up the mess, the sight of a few policemen at the far side of the street drew his attention. There had been an increase in police activity as of a few weeks ago, but it was to be suspected; ever since Astral, otherwise known as Luther, had made off with the meteorite, the entire police force have been busting their backs to try and look for anything that could provide them with some leads to the mysterious thief that had stolen the scientific marvel. It filled with with a fair amount of guilt; he also heard that the security guards and officers that were in charge of the meteorite were given **triple** overtime the entirety of the case…..

"Calvin, how's…...you know who doing?"  
"I've got five cameras that keep a constant stream on them with live feed, there's been no further progress in the regeneration thus far."

This whole experience was severely wracking his nerves. You see, that was no ordinary meteorite; it was actually a living, breathing extraterrestrial by the name of "Deoxys". Once the scientists had started to try and crack the creature whilst in its egg form, it called out to him for help. A strange supernatural force came to him one night and lead him to the research facility where he saw first hand that the scientists were trying everything that had to crack them open. He knew that if he didn't act, Deoxys would be a goner, but now he had this to contend with the fact that he's a wanted criminal with an entire police force after him…..

But then again, nobody ever said that this was going to be an easy mission, so he'd just have to wait for the being to regenerate, finish up his business here and get out before anyone's the wiser…..

"There! All finished!"  
"Great! Now let's go cash these checks and get some money!"  
"..."

Deciding to ponder on his brother's greed later, Luther set off. Thanks to the location of the shopping district, getting to the Art Gallery was an easy feat; nothing more than a simple turn right and they were both there. People were used to seeing Calvin's little robot after a few weeks of them living here and not many heads turned once they came inside. Marvelous pieces of artwork were strewn about the halls and contrasted greatly with the exquisite decor. It still stunned him every time he caught sight of it all, but he'd have to admire it all later when he didn't have his pockets overflowing with checks that needed cashing….

"Excuse me, sir? Can I ask for-"  
" **What?! What?! Can't you see I'm busy?!"**

Luther was cut off in his questioning by the man he had approached, someone that Luther believed to be the manager of this very gallery. He wore a green suit with a red tie that somewhat complimented his rotundus form, but sort of clashed with his blue hair in Calvin's unspoken opinion. There was a touch of anxiety to his face and it made the hispanic wonder just what was so important. Calvin couldn't care less, to be completely honest. He was more concerned about whether or not the guy was going to apologize to his brother for being an ass.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, b-but I was just wondering what you seem so nervous about."

" **Don't tell me you haven't heard! That mystery thief that stole that space rock right out from under museum security's noses last night!"**  
"...Yeeeeah? What about him?" Asked the flying robot.

" **What about him?! If he could sneak in and sneak out of that heavily fortified place without so much as breaking a sweat, what's stopping him from coming here and robbing the gallery blind of all of it's valuable pieces of art?! I've got to get the gallery closed down and everything locked into the vault before he has a chance!"**

"..."

This bit of information made the other frown. Was that really what people thought? That he was some expert thief that was going to hit every major attraction that Monte D'or had to offer? A quick onceover of the gallery in its entirety was given and it was then that Luther realized that most of the paintings in the back were being boxed up and hauled away, which would explain why a majority of the people were crowding around the front. They must want to get one last glimpse of the artwork before their locked in storage for who knows how long. It was another thing to add to the nagging guilt he felt gnawing at his stomach…

"...I see. I hope you get everything sealed away safely and in mint condition."

The conversation over, Luther watched as the man returned to ordering around the movers that were in charge of moving the various portraits. A single glance back and the young man moved back towards the entrance where some of the other patrons were located to try and get some information out of them. Surprisingly, none of the other adults were of any help, but one little girl, going by the name Collette, seemed to be more competent than all of them combined. She pointed him in the direction of City Hall, providing him with directions on how to get from here to there and without the need to prattle on about random nonsense in between her sentences. A grateful thank you was given before the both of them set off.

"I can't believe that they're closing the gallery down because of this." Luther piped up.

"It's just that initial sense of paranoia creeping in. They'll be over it in a week." Calvin consoled.

"Mmm."

The pair retreated into the Art Gallery's plaza before turning right and heading up the stairs to enter the Residential District, more specifically Knick-Knack Alley. Around this time of day, parents were out and about with their kids and couples were strolling around, window-shopping for anything that their heart's desires. As much as he was itching to see if they had anything on airplane maintanence, he still needed to get these checks cashed. Maybe he could come back after, seeing as he'd have a bit of money on him during that time, after all. So, he continued to advance up the steps to come onto Oasis street before moving to the winding path that lead towards the Ledore Manor. Or was it the Ascot Manor now? Luther wasn't entirely sure what had happened back during the whole "Masked Gentleman" fiasco, but something about the entire city being made for a person that was missing for years was about all he could really process of it. The mansion was absolutely beautiful and he saw various servants working around the garden, maintaining the countless flowers and hedges that lined the gate's fence. Calvin, deciding to be cute, hovered his little robot over the gate and snuck up behind one of the maid's and

"Calvin, don't you-!"  
"BOO!"

A shrill shriek rang into the air as Luther's palm met his forehead before running off after the chortling little bot. Neither of them noticing the woman in the window that had witnessed what had happened or the man she called into the room to inform her of what happened.

"Hooligan. Where does he get off bothering the staff while they're working on preserving the manor?"  
"I could hear laughing coming from his direction as well. Probably some kind of cruel joke."  
"Hmph! Well, I'm not going to just sit here and take this lying down. I'm going after him."  
"I'll come with you and bring the maid to help us find him. You know how big the crowds are during this time of day…."

 **And it was this single prank that spawned an entire sequence of events that neither I, Calvin, them or anyone else were prepared for. That brother of mine single-handedly turned this entire covert mission that had been kept secret for years into the greatest puzzle this world had ever seen...**


	3. Chapter 3

"Calvin, what the hell was that about?!"  
"Yeeehahahahaha! Hoo, hoo, I-I-I can't BREATHE!"

The sputtering robot was spinning around in a circle as the operator tried to calm down his fit of boisterous laughter. Several deep breaths were needed in rapid succession to get it down to a small snicker here and there, but Luther failed to see the humor in the situation. His brother could be so obnoxious at times that it made him embarrassed that they were related when he got like this. They had managed to get away without any incidents with the other servants, but that still didn't mean what the other had done was acceptable.

"You scared the shit out of that poor woman!"  
"I know!"  
"Why on earth would you suddenly do that? What was the reason?!"  
"Boredom, mostly."

A sigh. "Let's just keep moving. And when we go back, we're going down a different path."  
"Spoilsport."

The incident was put behind them for the moment as they continued onward. Finally, they reached City Hall and entered inside to see about thirteen police officers crowding the lobby. At the sight of so many uniforms, Luther felt that anxiety from earlier resurface and start to boil his stomach acid something fierce. He didn't do good in crowds to begin with, but with a literal target on his back, he just wants to get in and out of there as fast as possible. It wasn't easy goings shuffling through the large mass of blue and black; no matter how many times he offered an apology for bumping into one person, he'd have already nudged against another. With some doing, he stumbled onto one of the receptionist desks finally and tried to regain his breath. Some of those people smelled like they hadn't heard about this little thing called 'deodorant'...ever. His brother's little robot hovered down near his head as he tried to get his breathing back on track before speaking to the annoyed receptionist.

"S-sorry. I'm…..not good with crowds."  
"I can tell. What do you need?"  
"I-I need these checks I have cashed out. I-If you don't mind."

As reluctant as she seemed, the woman got to work on his request and he was told that it'd be about thirty minutes to get all of the checks verified and the money from the back, but he could contend with that and the lady was on her way. For the first few minutes, the officers just continued to speak amongst themselves and mumble the things they didn't want him to hear, enveloped in their own little world. But before long, the sound of a door slamming from the backroom drew their and his attention towards the nearby threshold connecting this room to the next. In walked what Luther assumed to be the chief of police, a stout man with blonde hair and mustache wearing a red suit as well as an exhausted look in his eyes. Seems the officers themselves weren't the only ones running ragged….

"Alright, you lot! I am determined to keep this whole 'Astral' fiasco from turning into another blooming "Masked Gentleman"! The people are already panicking and everything is being shut down until we apprehend this thief, understood?!"

A chorus of 'Yes sir!" filled the room as Luther's eyes widened. **Everything** was being closed down?

"W-WAIT!"

All eyes were on him as he suddenly blurted out for them to halt in their movement to the backroom. Not expecting everyone to suddenly turn towards him, a lump developed in his throat and he found it hard to breathe, let alone speak. Thankfully, he could always count on his brother's big mouth to pull through for him. "What do you mean, 'everything is closing down'? Isn't that a little extreme?" The floating robot hovered close to the chief, who took a surprised step backwards at the sight of the strange mechanical marvel.

"Oi! What's all this about?! We've got no choice; it'll put a temporary damper on the tourist trade, sure, but better than having everything stolen and having to close down for good, would you say?"

"I guess, but what if all he wanted was the meteorite? Everyone could just be spurring themselves into a panic over nothing." Luther chimed in.

"Then we still have a thief on our hands. We've got five days to catch this clown before that sandstorm comes in; I'd bet everything I had that the sneak would use it to get out of here undetected."  
"..."

Was he that easy to read, even if they had no clue who he was? That was his exact plan; Deoxys' regeneration would take place regardless of where he was, but Luther didn't know everything about the other. All of those experiments done whilst in egg form could've caused some adverse effects that neither of them have yet to see; he just wanted to keep close observation on him to verify that there wasn't anything amiss before leaving, that's all. As for leaving during the sandstorm, he had to. It had to do with….something else; the thing that sent him to Monte D'or in the first place and why he knows so much about Deoxys.

 **I think I should cut in to explain a few things here. Okay, so I'm not really...from this world. And I'm not really human. I'm something called a "Pokemon", a creature much more unique and dangerous that anything these humans have seen. I was sent here on a mission of great importance a few years back in this world's time; several temples have been transported to this world for some reason. Now these are quite decrepit temples, but they are of great importance to the Pokemon that inhabit the environments around them. Not only that, but there are Pokemon that live in such temples and when the structures teleported, so did the creatures inside of them. Aside from Deoxys, there's a temple here that I'd finally found after all this time and needed to get home. Doing it during the sandstorm would run a lower risk of being spotted and everything would already be set up for me to leave and head to the next, so it worked out perfectly for me.**

 **Or so I thought until-**

"Oi! You there! With the robot!"  
"WHa-huh?"

There were three people at the entrance to the building; a woman with blonde hair, a man with blonde-brown…...aaaaaaand the lady that Calvin had scared shitless not even forty minutes ago…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three: Suspect?!

Luther's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as his brother's little robot hovered softly towards his shoulders, the optic in it looking everywhere but at him. It was just as he thought, he had known that Calvin's little trick would come back to bite him in the ass and here it was. That brother of his was going to get one hell of a talking to face-to-face when he got back home…..

"Who do you think you are, scaring me out of my wits when we've got another masked delinquent running around?!"

The maid stepped up and marched right towards Luther, who took several steps back to find himself trapped between her and the desktop as everybody started to look their way. She wasn't even that tall; she was a petite, four foot woman with frizzy red hair and green eyes with a traditional maid's outfit that he'd expect to see in a large mansion.

"I have half a mind to press charges against you! To think that you'd be so uncouth as to disrespect a lady of my caliber! Your mother-"  
"HEY!"

The sudden intrusion of Calvin thrusting his robot between the woman and Luther's face, startled the both of them greatly. His robot's optic had grown a fiery red as it greatly showed how he felt about this woman treating his brother so rudely. It was his fault that all of this was happening, not his! Why the hell was she getting all up on his case about it?! "You leave him alone! **I'm** the one that scared you and I'll admit, it was uncouth of me to do so, so step off of Luther!" His machine got closer and closer to the woman with each word until she was the one backing up and promptly landed on her rump at the last word in his sentence.

"Ey oh, what's going on here?!"  
"This gentleman, er-gentleman's **robot** crossed onto the Ascot Manor's property and proceeded to spook one of the servants," the man recalled. "We're just here to get an apology-" His gaze fell onto Luther for a split second before Calvin intercepted his stare. "-and to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again."

"Yeah, I promise. Now go away."  
"Calvin! I-I'm really sorry about all of this, he's very...Calvin is..."  
"I'm a juvenile, christ man, spit it out."  
Luther nodded and shrugged.

There was a long pause before the man responded. "Hmph. You wanna press charges, Mr. Ledore?" the chief of police asked. "We've got them right here, after all."  
"No, I don't believe that'll be necessary. An apology will suffice...this time."

The optic narrowed as its operator watched the man and woman leave from the building. Something about that guy just really creeped Calvin out for some reason and just couldn't quite get his finger on it. Either way, they were gone and the situation had been nullified before any real harm could've been done to any of them.

"Thank you, Calvin."  
"Aw, no problem bro! I'll always be there for you and you know that and I love you and-"  
"-aaaand you're still in trouble."  
"Damn it!"

* * *

The trek through Monte D'or was silent for the two brothers. Luther's was more of a brewing rage while Calvin's was a scared, bitten back tongue. A few of the newer tourists caught their gazes wandering after the disgruntled man and the robot that floated behind him, but neither of them paid much attention to it. Upon first arriving to Monte D'or, they had to learn to get used to people gawking at them, both of them comprising of such an odd duo. It took about an hour to full traverse the city before finding themselves in the outskirts of the grand city. The amusement park, Tingly Town, came into view and so did the harsh desert behind it. As always, getting access behind the scenes of the attraction was a hassle and a number of hoops had to be jumped through before they were allowed to exit through the back

Their home wasn't really a home. It was an enormous, jet black plane with neon blue wing tips and glow in the dark designs - perfect for when the pair needed to fly at night but wanted to avoid a mid-air collision. There were two windows in the cargo area and both of them were propped open; anyone passing by would feel cool air coming out to contradict the desert's blazing heat. Even though Luther and Calvin had only managed to squire the plane through less than legal means, it was pretty much all they had.

The pair heard the sound of hooves clacking against the steel interior inside. A small, tender smile overcame Luther's once enraged features as he brought out the remote needed to open the hatch doors. As soon as it touched the sand, the man found himself getting tackled to the ground by a blur of green and felt the wind get knocked out of him. Excited 'do's' came from the creature that happily cuddled into his chest as he sat up in the sand; green ears twitched here and there as a little deer fawn got comfortable against him. It's beige undercoat blended in nicely with the sand as it continued to rub against Luther and make gentle content noises.

"Hiya, Doughnut! How have you been? Calvin's been treating you fairly, right?"  
"Uh! Of course!"

Pawsteps padding against the inside of the plane drew both his and Doughnut's attention as another strange creature walked into the sand. It was a canine; orange fur marred most of its body as black stripes adorned its front and hindlegs; the muzzle, tail and large tuft of fur on it's head were all cream-colored. The large round ears perched atop its head drooped slightly as Luther's bad mood from earlier resurfaced. "Aw, come on, Luther! You know I'm sorry!" A pout was given as the dog, who was actually Calvin, gave the true definition of 'Puppy eyes' to the irritated man. A sigh left the other's lips before he placed the fawn down and made his way inside of the aircraft, the two creatures following behind him. It was getting late and the sun was already starting to descend over the horizon; Doughnut would need to go to bed soon and god knows he didn't want to get two hours of sleep with the fawn around. Like clockwork, the little creature always seemed to wake up at the crack of dawn…..and that meant **they** were woken up at the crack of dawn. Compact was the only world to describe their temporary living state; there was a small fridge in one corner, a workbench in another and a small bathroom for bathroom things. There were three beds; a long mattress for Luther, a medium-sized dog bed for Calvin and an array of blankets for Doughnut. They tried getting the fawn a bed like Calvin, but he always kicked it away and went back to the blankets, so both of them just stopped trying after a while.

"Come on, Luther! I said sorry!"  
"Still doesn't change that you shouldn't have done it in the first place!"  
"Oh, how was I supposed to know they'd be a bunch of prudes?!"  
"Calvin!"

The exasperation in his voice made Calvin stop cold. A sigh filled the silence between them both before Luther spoke once more. "Calvin, I know it's hard," the dog's ears flattened against his head, ", everything is so different here than it is back home and I know it's not easy for you to adjust." As he spoke, the man placed a hand on the other's head as Doughnut watched on, curious as to what was going on between the both of them. "But please, we can't run the risk of revealing more of ourselves than we need to. Our job is to get the temples and get out, not a soul knowing the truth about anything."

"...I understand."  
"...Hey. How about tomorrow when I get back from the stand, we practice on your form?"

That made him perk up a bit slightly before he trudged towards his bed. It was hard for the both of them. This world was so….different than their own. Nobody was like them, all of their family was back home, the thick expanse of space filled with nothing but stars separating them as they could only wonder what they were doing and how they were. Some days Luther just stared off into space and thought about his fiance, Sicilly, and how distraught and scared she had been when he had told her he had accepted the mission. She did everything in her power to try and stop him from going, but finally conceded in the end. God, he hoped she was doing alright.

Another sigh. He was stressing himself out….again. At this rate, he'd never get any sleep. Things were progressing along well and they'd be home in no time. This comforting thought was what kept him going when all of his stress caught up with him. And it was what finally soothe his worries and allowed him to fall asleep…..

* * *

A loud yawn came from Luther as he groggily walked towards the Merchant's District the next day. It wasn't a sign of not getting sleep, it just meant that Doughnut had decided to jump on him to get him up that morning. How that little guy managed to be so energetic so early in the morning was beyond him…. As he turned onto the street, Calvin's robot jerked back harshly as he stared in disbelief at what he saw.

"What? What's going o-ooooooh."

Standing before the both of them was the entire police force...and they soon circled around the both of them with the chief of police and the man and woman from yesterday. "Luther! You are under arrest under the suspicion of being "Astral" and having stolen the meteorite from the museum two nights ago."

'Oh fuck." Both brothers thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four: Interrogation

Being lead back to City Hall with an entire squadron of police officers surrounding you was nerve-wracking for most already, but Luther felt he was going to throw up, shit himself, cry and pass out all at the same time. His stomach was doing backflips, his lower intestine felt like it was criss-crossing and knotting amongst itself and his stomach acid was probably reaching such potency that he wouldn't be surprised if it started burning its way through the lining of his belly…

'There's no **way** they could've figured it out **this** fast!' he thought to himself. 'I was careful in **everything** ; I double-checked the security guard routes daily, knew the camera locations by heart, what could've gone wrong?!' The man was working himself into a fit and he knew it, but this was all so incomprehensible to him that he couldn't help it! Calvin's robot hovered close towards his head, a snarl coming from him whenever he caught some people whispering amongst themselves at the spectacle wandering the streets. This was bad; if Luther wound up locked away, the entire mission would become just that much more complicated. Forced to become a fugitive of the law will do that…

Out of the corner of his optic, Calvin could see Mr. Ledore and the woman who's name he had already forgotten. They were both commercing with one another, taking glances at Luther just about every five seconds as they did so. Ledore looked angry; well, not really 'angry' as he was furious. It seems that the woman was trying to calm him down and get him to a rational state of mind before he did something Calvin would make him regret. Just like Luther, he didn't have the full backstory behind that whole "Masked Gentleman" thing that had happened, but did know about the significance of this city to that man just behind them. People were still paranoid after these few years and 'Astral' has caused several attractions to close down already, dropping the tourist trade to infinitesimal levels. If things kept up like this, businesses would suffer terrible repercussions and this city he cared so much for would crumble...

"...You know, instead of walking here with the big ass elephant in the air, how about we talk about why the hell you've decided to accuse my brother as a change of pace?" The robot brought up.

"Hmph! While I can't say I care much for your attitude, you bleeding nonce-"

"-what did you just call me?"

"-filling you in will be inevitable, anyways."

"Okay cool, but what did you call me?"

An exasperated groan came from Luther as he shoved his brother's robot underneath his armpit before he started using it to bop the police chief on the head. It both astounded and frightened him at the depth of immaturity his sibling was capable of. But he **did** bring up a point; what evidence did they have to try and indict him with the charge of theft?

"We've been going over the area where Astral disappeared with a fine comb, but couldn't find nought to where he might've gone to. Once that failed, my men started searching the surrounding area and found this striking piece of evidence." From the depths of his jacket, the police chief pulled out the white kitsune mask that Astral had been wearing the night of the heist. A scoff came from the robot under his arm as Luther just stared at the mask quizzicall; that was their big coup de gras for insinuating that he was Astral? The mask? True, once he had done his little disappearing act, the hispanic man had simply thrown it asunder in some nearby alleyway, but that just proves how insignificant it was. There wasn't a shred of hair on it when he threw it away and he made sure to wipe it thoroughly with a clean handkerchief to keep the police from getting any Dna samples whatsoever off of it. So, it was pretty much the most insignificant piece to this entire puzzle, really…

"So what? Are you gonna see if it fits and use that to blame him for the crime, excellent police work, ten outta ten." The robot snarked.

"...Please forgive me for my brother, he's very protective and very immature. But….he does provide a fine point; how does this mask implement me as the thief?"

City Hall came into view as the question lingered in the air. Before long, Luther was ushered into a back room that he assumed was where the police debriefed cases and held interrogations. Lucky him that he gets to take part in one of those two things…

"Yesterday, around noon, Mr. Ledore and Ms. Angela came to confront you about the happenings at the Ledore Mansion."

"Yes, what about it?"

"When you went to leave, this," a piece of porcelain was pulled out from the desk by a nearby officer before being handed to the chattering chief, " fell from your pocket." It took everything Luther had to keep his face in a neutral stance; how could he have been so foolish?! Due to the unforeseen circumstance of Doughnut horsing around, a piece of the mask had broken off that night and he had had to hastily glue it back on to make sure he didn't miss his deadline. Once in his freefall, the speed of the wind whipping around him had started to crack the seam more and nearly broke it off. In a state of absentmindedness, he had removed the wayward piece and placed it in his pocket before dumping the mask entirely. He recalls a fleeting thought of using it for a new mask, but was really just kicking himself in the ass for not getting rid of it along with the mask.

"It's an almost perfect match of the fracture on the mask in question and we've also gotten a nice little tip concerning you and Professor Sycamore?"

"...A….tip?"

Sycamore; the man who loathed him with possibly every fiber of his beng. Both him and the good professor had a bit of a 'history' together, for lack of a better word. Luther had to accept a job offer from the man's alter ego or split personality or whatever, Jean Descole to train his pet wolves to behave however he saw fit without the use of some strange machines that he had been using to control them in the first place. He may not have been the most kind boss, but he gave him a substantial amount of money for helping to take care of his animals, so Luther never found himself complaining for long. Yet, the real reason he had to take the job and another circumstance has most likely left the man with a thirst for revenge the likes of which most wouldn't think possible...

"Said that you and Professor Sycamore had a bit of a falling out a few years back over a bit of stolen research. Who's to say that hasn't been the case here?"

"Hmph. I'm afraid that both of your leads are falling a little flat here, good sir," Luther released the robot from his grip and watched as it tried to get its bearings once more. ",you claim that that piece of porcelain and the mask are one in the same, but you also said that the fracture was almost identical, correct?"

"Er, yes." The chief answered.

"As you may know, I make masks for a living. Speak with anybody at the local post office and you should find a record of me placing an order for porcelain about a week ago and see that the shipment came on the night of the incident."

"Guhk!" A sound of shock and surprise left the man opposite of him. Looks like they hadn't done as much research on this as he had originally thought. It wasn't that hard to see why Scotland Yard had to send two of their finest detectives to help them….

"You can see where I'm coming from, then. As for the supposed 'tip', I did work for Sycamore for a time, but never stole anything from him. If I had, do you really think I'd be here and not behind bars for stealing from such a world-renowned scientist?"

 _ **"Why, how nice of you to say that, Luther."**_

As a completely involuntary reaction, the hispanic man jumped with a shriek at the sound of the newcomer's voice. 'Uh….oh,' he thought to himself as he turned towards the door. A man with oddly bread-shaped hair and red-rimmed glasses stood in the doorway to the room as he gave off a kind smile. There was an involuntary shiver down his spine when he thought back to how they had parted ways; it actually put everything that had happened today into perspective. Sycamore must've been pulling the strings behind all of this from the start; it's not hard to find where his shop is located, all one would have to do is ask around to find it. Not only that, but it doesn't take an idiot to figure out that he had to have been the out to leave that anonymous tip that vaguely told about their past together….

"Y-yes, good to see you again, Sycamore." He spoke.

"I just wish it were under better terms, old boy. To have stolen my hard-earned research twice; you must really detest me."

A groan of discomfort from Luther. Just as he thought; he still hasn't let it go…

"As for that piece of porcelain, I had taken the liberty of analysing its physical compound. While the edges where it and the mask meet are different, my study has shown conclusive evidence that are made of the same chemical make-up and also has the same dirt and grime on it that the mask has."

If this were some sort of cartoon, everything around Luther would've shattered like glass. His precious alibi, gone. Gone out of the window never to return again. And the worse thing about all of this is that he didn't have a back-up. He could hear Calvin muttering underneath his breath, obviously trying to think of something to say in his brother's defense, but was coming up short every time. Before the interrogation could continue, one of the secretaries up front came up behind the professor and said that there was a problem at the Ledore Manor that required the only two people in the room that weren't directly involved with the case. Both of them left.

"Such a shame. I thought they'd love to see the man responsible for this theft put behind bars, but duty calls at the worst of times, no?"

"Jesus Christ, dude!" Calvin muttered.

"B-but I-"

Before Luther could even try to create a false alibi out of thin air, a loud commotion sounded outside and drew everyone's attention. "What the devil is going on out there?!" The man and his robot were both shoved outside of the room and out the front door by the police, seeing as they couldn't leave the prime suspect of this entire case to his own devices. Once out, they all saw the citizens of the street looking up at the sky, eyes wide with terror as they started to back away from whatever had them spooked.

"Whoa, what the hell is everyone's prob-oooooooooh." Calvin was cut off mid-sentence as he looked up at the sky, Luther soon following suit. His eyes widened; on top of a nearby building, a shroud of black blew against the blue sky as the afternoon sun further accentuated the figure. Once they lifted their head, another white kitsune mask shined from the beating rays of the sun. He could hear rapid footsteps coming from the right of them and saw Mr. Ledore and Ms. Angela charging towards them with almost the entirety of the house behind them. That imposter….had stolen from the Ledore Manor.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Five: Diversion Tactics

It seemed like everything stopped for Luther in that one moment; his eyes were locked onto the mysterious figure with such amazement that he must've looked mesmerized, his heart halted mid-beat and it was like time had come screeching to a pause. There was only one other reason he could think of as to why there was another "Astral" on the scene; someone was riding his coattail to try and score some big cash. He'd be the first to admit that his disguise wasn't the most creative; all one would need to replicate it was an adequately dark cloak and a random mask. It was meant to be a simple in and out job, so he didn't put much thought into it. Looks like it's coming back to bite him in the ass now….

A single glance was shared between him and his brother's mechanical outlet; they needed to put a stop to this and now. They could come up with a plan another time, but getting away from the police without causing a citywide manhunt was their first priority.

"Welp, I think that wraps things up quite nicely if I do say so myself!" Calvin blurted.

A snort from Luther. He could've been just a little bit more subtle…

"What are you blathering on about?" The chief asked.

"Uh, hello? Do you have a brain in that oddly brick-shaped head of yours?" Calvin responded.

The robot looked at Luther and back at the man contrasted against the blue sky hovering over all of them. "Astral's over there while Luther is standing right here in plain sight. Kinda hard to be here and significantly outrunning officers there, you hear what I'm saying?" As crude as he was in explaining the situation, the looks on the police officer's faces told him all they needed to know. It's kinda hard to accuse someone of being another person when said person is standing on top of a rooftop overlooking the city. Luther allowed his eyes to scan over the crowd of people before they rested on Sycamore….or rather the unnoticed smirk that was etched across his face. 'Oh dear. This isn't going to be good….' He thought to himself.

"Please let's not jump to any irrational conclusions." The man placed a hand on his chin before starting to circling around Luther. "True, it would be impossible for Luther to be both here and there at the same time, but who says he has to?"

"Ay oh? What's this now?" Chief Sheffield interjected.  
"Sneaking into the museum, pilfering a precious piece of research while evading capture of both the security staff and the camera system. All of this seems to be a bit much for one person to handle."  
"Just what are you getting at, Sissybore?" Calvin snarked.  
A twitch of the eye from the professor and a facepalm from Luther.  
"...It's Sycamore. And what I'm saying is that how do we know that you don't have an accomplice?"  
"What?!" Calvin screamed.  
"That'd be impossible!" For the first time today, Luther was ready to defend himself. He'd been in a bit of a stupor since first being brought in and hadn't really fully processed everything till just now…

"Suppose that I am, in a strictly hypothetical sense, Astral and that person is working with me. I didn't know I was even a suspect until you apprehended me just this morning, how would they know to help me without any prior knowledge whatsoever?"

A small smile spread over Sycamore's face as he listened to Luther's rebuttal. "Why, that's simple as can be. After all," another smirk wormed its way out of everyone else's vision and onto the man's face, "there's a floating transmitter standing right here in front of all of us." The hispanic man blanched at what he was saying; as difficult as it was to admit, Sycamore had a point, however false it may be. Who needs prior knowledge when you've got a radio transmitter following your partner everywhere he goes?

"No way!" Calvin denied.

"Oh? And just what do you have to put up as a defense against these accusations?" Sheffield spoke up.

Everyone could hear the sound of lips touching one another as the person behind the robot's controls struggled to find something to say to defend his brother's innocence, but he soon gave up with an irritated huff. Luther was on the verge of collapse from the amount of exhaustion overcoming him. God, he would've gotten more sleep last night if he knew this was what was waiting for him the next day… Not only was there an imposter running around, stealing precious commodities from the people and possibly the attractions, Descole was here and planning god-knows-what when he manages to track them both down and he was already under the risk of being exposed as Astral. Where was a steamy hot cup of joe when he needed it?

"Well, we won't be able to get to the bottom of this case until we apprehended that second thief. Men!" All of the present cops stood at attention. "We've got another culprit on the loose and this time, we're not letting him get away! After him!" The entirety of the police force went charging down the streets of Monte D'or, alarming many of the people that had beared witness to the thief in broad daylight. "Professor Sycamore, if you please?"

"Don't worry, I won't let him worm his way out of here."  
"Why'd you use the word 'worm' like that?"

* * *

It was back to the conference room for all three of them. As soon as they entered, Sycamore dropped his act once more and the man's true personality peeked through once more.

"I'll admit, I didn't think you had it in you to pull off a scheme as devious as this." He stated.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Luther countered.

"Oh no? Trying to use someone else as bait to try and take the fall for you; such cowardice."

No response from either brother.

"But now that those blundering pigs have left, this is the perfect time for me to ask you something that has been nagging at me since our last encounter."

"You mean the time when you broke into Luther's apartment and scared the everloving shit out of the both of us?" Calvin asked.  
"Quiet now, the adults are talking."

A sharp intake of breath was heard from the robot before Calvin let out a small snarl of anger. Little more than a sigh came from Luther; the both of them were acting like children in his opinion…

"What is your connection to those temples I was studying?" The man's eyes widened as he suppressed a small gasp. This was the response that Sycamore must've been waiting for from the raised eyebrow and curious smile on his face. "Ah, have I struck a nerve?" Both brothers growled lightly underneath their collective breaths. Luther knew that this was his fault. Working under Descole was the only thing he could do; somehow, the man had managed to find a temple before him and had begun doing research on them. The Pokemon that resided in each temple he found were able to avoid detection and told Luther about these events, prompting him to take the necessary action. But if he had just gotten it done sooner, this wouldn't be as much of a problem as it is right now…

"Is there some sort of treasure hidden in each temple?"  
"..." Nothing from either sibling.

"Hmm. Perhaps those strange markings lead to some sort of weapon of infinite power?"

"..."  
"No, I didn't think so. I could play this guessing game with you for however long we have, but you still wouldn't tell me, would you?"

"Hmph." Without warning, the good professor grabs the other by the collar and yanks him to look him in the eye so fast that Calvin didn't even have the chance to make a move to intercept him. "But mark my words, Jean Descole always gets the answers he wants," the grip tightens around Luther's collar and starts to choke him slightly. ",one way or another." He maliciously whispered. That said, they both separated after Luther was tossed back onto his chair.

The room was engulfed in silence once more.

* * *

It took Chief Sheffield and the police force about an hour and a half to return, but something was….different about the chief. Before he left, he had been almost smug, like he had been sure that they had captured the right man and would have him behind bars before he could even say "You got me." Now, however, it seems that ego he had had was deflated beyond repair. There was a steaming hot cup of tea in one hand and the other was rubbing one of his temples.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Sycamore chimed in.  
"Quite a few, actually. Things have gotten that much more complicated in this case, Professor."

Calvin and Luther exchanged glances. What was he talking about?

"Upon finally cornering the suspect, my men and I were about to cuff him when suddenly another shrouded figure appeared on the rooftop. Followed by another….and another...until we were the ones that were outnumbered." Sheffield spoke in a hushed tone.

"Luther hasn't been here long enough to accumulate the number of people that we had seen,." Spoke one of the nameless officers.

A sound of surprise left the good professor as Luther managed to pull off a successful poker face. This was starting to become far too intricate; if people wanted to start a thieving syndicate of some sort, why wait until he stole the meteorite? True, they could just be hoping to make Astral out to be their head honcho and have the police focusing on him, but they could've easily done that with one of their own men and destroy that particular costume. That way, the police would be on a wild goose chase for a person that no longer existed while the rest of them were free to plunder as much as their heart's desired. No; whoever these people are, they were planning something and they wanted Astral to be the figurehead of it all.

'I need to get to the bottom of this,' Luther thought to himself, 'but how?' He wasn't exactly in the right position to go around investigating. Not only was he the prime suspect in this entire fiasco, but Sycamore had managed to stack up a formidable case against him that he hadn't even the foggiest clue as how to dismember it….

"Gentleman, gentleman, please. Let's all just collect our thoughts here and go over what we know." Sycamore's hand found its way to his chin once more before he began to speak again. "I think we're all forgetting one crucial piece to this puzzle; the fact that we are most likely broadcasting this entire conversation to this gang as we speak. Let us not look over the floating robot that has been here for the entirety of this interrogation." It was back to the robot, but Luther was prepared for him this time with a decent rebuttal.

"Now, this really is impossible." Everyone focused on him as he began to explain and, amazingly, he didn't feel any anxiety bubble up in his stomach. "The robot Calvin is using can only broadcast at full capacity on one radio frequency at a time, meaning that it can only relay conversations to one radio receiver at a time. Not only that, but there is only one such receiver that can broadcast at larger distances than twenty feet and Calvin has been using it this entire time to speak with us." A look of surprise befell everyone's face as Luther finished explaining, Sycamore's being more out of spite than anything. Before anyone could even start to speak, the sound of rapid footsteps making their way towards the room drew everyone's attention. A pair of guards that were stationed at the museum came bursting into the room and one of them was waving around something in his hands; it was another calling card from Astral.

"Blast it, he's making a mockery of us!" Sheffield growled. "What's he gone and made off with now?!"  
"You misunderstand, sir. This isn't the sign of a robbery that's taken place, but….r-r-rather a m-m-missed invitation." The guard stuttered out.

"Oi! Explain yourselves, now!"  
"W-well sir, we were doing a complete onceover of the entire museum to try and figure out how the thief got in and out so easily when one of our men knocked over the shipping container that was originally used to transport the meteorite from each scientist's laboratory. You can put together what fell out." Spoke one guard.

"Nobody ever bothered to check the crate because there were no signs of Astral three weeks ago."

"Not only that but the crate hasn't been used in over…" the chief crossed his arms and looked over at Luther, startling him slightly. "...in over three weeks. When Luther hadn't even been in Monte D'or." Another sound of surprise left Professor Sycamore at this news; it seems he hadn't bothered to gain a little intel on Luther's time here before coming to try and get him thrown in the slammer…

"Luther, it seems as though every accusation made against you has been disproven through irreputable fact. On behalf of the police of Monte D'or, I apologize for this impairment on your innocence."  
"Oh, it's quite alright-"  
"WHAT?!" Calvin screeched.  
"-everybody makes mistakes. I just hope you end up finding the real culprits before anything else gets stolen."  
"Have you not been here for the past three hours? Have you just be in la-la land?"  
"We're leaving, Calvin."

An irritated groan came from the robot. Calvin couldn't believe it; he was just going to walk out, no screaming, no threats to sue?! True, he just wanted him to do it, so something interesting could happen that didn't mean more work for them. When he caught whoever it was running around impersonating Astral, ooooh! They were going to feel the wrath that is a scorned and pissed off Calvin! But first things first, of course. The both of them needed to deal with Sushimore over there; as of right now, there was nothing stopping him from changing into his primadonna costume and hunting the both of them down. Being on the outskirts of town in the desert wouldn't be doing them any favors, so there was only one thing they could do; force Descole to keep himself hidden long enough for the both of them to get the hell out of dodge…

"But before we do, let me ask a question." Calvin chimed in.  
"Hmmm? Alright, what is it?"  
"Do you remember the man named Jean Descole?"

A small gasp came from Luther as Sycamore threw a glare at the robot from behind everyone else's back.

"...Yes. He was the one that orchestrated the entire "Masked Gentleman" spectacle."  
"A man that can manipulate people with ease, disguise himself to a tee and just so happens to wear a mask and cape. I think you see what I'm getting at here."

"Let me get this straight," Sycamore slid his glasses up, the lights in the room reflecting off the glass and covering his eyes. ", you believe this 'Descole' person and 'Astral' are one in the same, correct?"

"Descole is a world renowned thief that has stolen from countless museums and terrorized his fair share of communities. Being an archaeologist and scientist, the meteorite would've been a tantalizing target for him. His skills at disguising himself would aid him in avoiding detection of the security guards, not to mention give him easy access to the security room to delete any and all data of the room the meteorite was in."

Murmurs started to arise from the crowd of police officers as Sheffield seemed to be fully enveloped into what Calvin was saying. If there was one thing you could say about Calvin, it was that he could draw just about anyone's attention. Right now was one such situation. Though, Luther could see that dark cloud starting to form over Sycamore's head; only three people in this room knew the true intentions behind what Calvin was attempting, and succeeding, in doing. Give the police a false trail to sniff down through Descole to kill two birds with one stone…

"I'll give it to you, that sounds plausible, but that doesn't explain just who those other blokes were that showed up."  
Calvin said nothing.

Instead, the robotic optic cut away to reveal various articles on the man in question. Some of the police officers started to clamber around the machine before Sheffield pushed them aside to get a good look at it himself. There was the incident with the town of Misthallery, what happened in Monte D'or, a few thefts from museums here and there, but one thing was emphasized on and started to take over the entirety of the screen.

"The mass kidnapping on the Crown Petone?" Sheffield questioned.  
"Correct. Various eye witness reports of the people that were kidnapped recalled not just the masked man, but the fact that he had a number of cronies assisting him in the crime."

Various images depicted police sketch drawings of other masked men as well as the apprehension of several more into police cars. Sheffield let out a hum of interest as he took in all of the information that Calvin had given. Sycamore finally let go of his glasses and Luther felt a shiver run down his spine; there was a deep, dark, rage-filled glare behind those specs and it was directed at him behind everyone's back. That anxiety was starting bubble up again and Calvin could see hear it in his shallow breathing. "But that's just my suggestion. Now me and my brother need to be getting back home, it's starting to get late."

And they left. "...Someone get me the files to the Masked Gentleman case." Sheffield spoke as he and the rest of the officers began to file out of the room….a fuming and plotting Sycamore following after them all.


	7. Chapter 7

"You know, it's kinda weird how one second everything could be going right as rain and the next, you've got a psychotic Phantom of The Opera reject on your tail, an imposter going around stealing things under your name and only three days to solve it all."

"You are not helping, Calvin."

The amount of people had been dwindling from the streets at the appearance of 'Astral', but with the sun starting to descend upon the horizon, more and more were starting to come out from their respective homes and businesses. In a city like Monte D'or with a giant casino, circus and nightly parades, any and all night owls are standing in a veritable paradise. However, neither him nor his brother had time to fool around; their situation had gone from terrible to catastrophic in the matter of a few short events and there wasn't a single clue in their arsenal that they could use to even begin to tackle it…

"...We need more information. And we need it fast."

"Suppose that'll be up to me, then?"

"As much as I would much rather it be me, I suspect that with everything that's happened, Sheffield will be keeping a close eye on me. One suspicious move and I'm back in that interrogation room."

Their voices were little more than hushed whispers. Subtlety wasn't a strong suit for the policemen of the city, so it had been fairly easy for the both of them to spot the two officers that were tailing three cars lengths behind them. There was no doubt in his mind; that air of suspicion around him may have depreciated, but it didn't disappear and Sheffield was going to make sure to keep Luther under close observation and he'd just have to contend with it. So long as they didn't try to enter his plane without a warrant or invade his personal space and affairs, it wouldn't be so bad. Keeping Deoxys hidden if they ever do get the means to a warrant, however…. They'd just have to cross that bridge if they ever got to it, he supposed.

"Not only that, but being an Arcanine doesn't make me the stealthiest choice for this kind of thing as Monte D'or is constantly crowded. A giant dog with a wild mane is sure to draw ten times the attention I could ever need or want." Luther mumbled.

"Fair enough. But problem is, where are we supposed to find the information? It's not like we've got any real leads to go off of." Calvin pointed out.

"There are three places that you'll need to go to in order to get as much intel as possible."  
"Eh? You've lost me."  
"Think about it, Calvin; there are only a few possible places that can yield any information about those imposters."

A pause from the robot as it let its machinery rev and whir about inside of it.

"The place where the police cornered the first guy."  
"Exactly. With any luck, you can pick up a scent or two that can lead us right to them or, at best, one of their members."

"Okay, I see where you're getting at. If that's the case, then….I'll need to go to City Hall and do some eavesdropping on Ole' Thwomp to get the location." The robot concluded.

"Excellent work, Calvin. Though, for my sake of mind, do your best to keep from getting caught."

"Luther, you insult me. Have you forgotten who you're talking to?"

"No, I'm talking to the teenager that nearly got himself killed once getting caught stealing from a gang." Luther snarked.

"I still say that guy shouldn't have seen me, that was bullshit." He muttered. "But wait, that's only two places, but also the only two that I can think of. Where's the third place?"

A groan from the eldest of the two. He knew that his little brother wasn't going to like this one bit, but it was necessary. "The third place is the Reunion Inn, where one Desmond Sycamore is staying at." Just as he heard the sharp inhale of breath, Luther grabbed the robot and smothered it against his side. There were a few muffled words as he struggled to keep the machine under his armpit before it finally stopped squirming. Another sharp inhale before he felt the sigh reverberate against his side. "I'm good now."

"Glad to hear it." The robot was released and took its place back besides the other's head once more.  
"But that doesn't mean I get why the hell I should willingly go towards a psychopath."  
"...It's too much of a coincidence, Calvin."  
"...Eh?"  
"Descole is a man that never looks back, always ready to tackle his next challenge. But for some reason, he returns to Monte D'or **and** just so happened to do so when Deoxys was being experimented on?"

"...You know, when you put it like that."

"There was also something I picked up from him. A peculiar scent."

"A scent?"

"Yes. Unbeknownst to those without keen senses of smell like you and I, the kind scientist had done his best to hide a certain odor underneath his cologne. A mixture of copper, oil and some sort of fuel."

Silence from his brother, a rare commodity.

"Descole's building **something** , but what I haven't the foggiest idea. Call me paranoid if you want, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep easy until I know what it is and just what he plans to do with it once he's finished."

Nothing but a small hum of agreement from Calvin. The pair were closing in on Tingly Town and drew their conversation to a halt. Just as expected, security had been beefed up considerably in the amusement park and was most fortified at the exit to the desert where the plane was rested; there were a barrage of questions that Luther had to answer as well as having his ID looked over a million times before he was permitted to pass. From the one of the small windows, he could see Doughnut's eyes peering through, waiting for him to get back. It warmed his heart to know that, no matter what happens or what he would have to do, there would always be two people willing to wait for him…

It was at sundown that Calvin set off on his mission; night's dark embrace was like the teen's playground. Even with the extravagant colors that all Growlithe's shared, the darkness would allow him to blend in amongst the various alleyways of the vast city as a precaution. The last thing either him or Luther wanted was for the police to catch him or worse, Descole. The scientist and him never did see eye to eye, even with him having been in his Pokemon form for as long as he had around the other. Something about a man parading around in a cape and mask that maniacally laughed to himself just rubbed him the wrong way….

"There!" The satchel was fastened around the small canine as Doughnut sniffed at the new attachment on the other. Should Calvin find anything that may provide them with a few answers, the satchel will allow him to maintain this form without putting too much of a damper on his movements. It also held his false collar inside of it, so should anyone decide to bother the strange stray wandering around the streets, they'll know he 'belongs' to Luther and is only out and about on his little walk. With everything in place, the brothers exchanged a small hug before the eldest of them both opened the hatch door to let him out.

"And remember, Calvin; avoid taking any unnecessary risks. We're all we've got here."  
"Come on, Luther! It's me!"  
"That's what has me worried."

* * *

Claws met stone as Calvin worked his way through the crowd engulfing the streets. He's had about five different kids try to pet him and every time, he had to scurry away into another thrall of people to avoid the sticky hands of doom. Not to say he didn't like kids, just that he would rather be around them when they had just gotten out of the bath and he knew where they had been, that's all! He padded along with the crowd for a few before managing to break away to make a beeline for the tram station; a shortcut through an alleyway gave him enough time to shift into his human form for a bit with his satchel slung around his shoulder as he caught a tram just pulling off. The tram wasn't all that keen on allowing animals without their owners or trainers on board, so he'd have to take his human form for the ride as much as he wished he didn't have to.

The need to remain inconspicuous was a must on these missions. Being spotted anywhere at anytime can come back to bite you in the arse before you can even let out a word to defend yourself. Getting around in his Growlithe form is not only easier, but people see lost or stray dogs on the street almost all of the time; what was one more weird-looking mutt to them?

"God, doesn't this place look like Ledore's compensating for something?"

From his position on the tram, he could see just how vast the hotel was in comparison to most other buildings in the city. Calvin was certain that, just like the city itself, there was some tragic backstory as to why it was the biggest building in the city, but once again, he didn't really care to know about it….

The teen did a quick scan of the area and hopped off of the tram once he was certain neither Sycamore nor his butler were around. There were a great number of tourists here that helped him blend into the crowd with ease and he managed to disappear behind a photo booth long enough to revert back to his Growlithe state. More than a few tourists gushed over him and tried to pet him before he snapped his teeth a couple of times to be rid of their unwanted hands. He had no time to be dealing with their baby-talk bullshit right now, he wanted to get in and out of the hotel as soon as possible. Two things made him uncomfortable in this entire situation; he had no clue where Sycamore or Raymond was, so they could pop up at any moment and time. Time was always a pain in the ass when he needed to go and find information, but now it was increasingly so. Three days was all the time he had to help his brother; if this thing wasn't solved before that sandstorm came, there was no way they'd be able to leave undetected with the police breathing down their neck and get back to Quilzan in time…

An abandoned trolley cart filled with luggage caught his attention and he managed to work his way towards it without anyone paying more attention to him than they needed. A few pieces of luggage had to be abandoned in some bushes to make room for him in a place that would keep him hidden, so he'd suspect people would be going to the front desk to complain that they can't find their underwear or something fairly soon. All it took was a small jolt from behind to tell him that he was on his way; all in all, he was cramped in that compact little space for about twenty minutes since the bellboy decided it been fine and dandy to chat with another employee for fifteen minutes... **straight**. Once they stopped moving, Calvin waited for the sound of the man's footsteps to fade before managing to scamper off down the hall and around the corner before starting to pop his joints back in their respective places.

"There goes twenty minutes of my life I'll never get back."

Finding the room where Sycamore was residing in wouldn't take long. With all the time he had spent around that man when Luther had been working for the egomaniac, his scent had lodged itself in his nostrils and has refused to leave. It would probably be stuck there until the day he died… His nostrils flared a few times as he took a few big whiffs to pick up on all of the scents that he could; trying to pinpoint one scent out of possibly hundreds by ignoring all of the rest would take way too long, so he'll just have to take them all in at once and lock onto Sycamore's once he was able to locate it.

"Let's see here: Cinnamon Latte, Snickerdoodles, Quiche, Some kind of mushroom soup, lot of food on this floor, terrible perfume, denture cream-nyaha!"

A delicate scent of cologne, fruitcake and an insidious amount of hair spray wafted into the canine's nasal cavity and sent him in pursuit of it. There were a few turns and a flight of stairs that he had to climb, but he managed to make it towards the hallways that homed the expensive suites that the hotel had to offer. The scent was most pungent at the entrance to one such suite and he tested the knob with his paws, it was locked of course. A small hum as the Growlithe looked at the far corners of the hallways for any security cameras; once he was certain there weren't any, the teen shifted into his human form once more. Even in this form, Calvin was still able to use his abilities and even call forth a few other attributes to his character that weren't his ears or tail. Claws were one such a thing.

An index finger and a thumb were all it took to pick the lock to the room for access inside. He returned to his Pokemon form to keep from leaving behind any shoeprints and cautiously slinked inside, taking great care to keep a good eye on his surroundings. Descole could have easily rigged a number of booby traps in the room that he wouldn't be able to catch until the very last second, he'd keep his senses on high alert until he was out of there…

"Hmm. Oil and fuel…" The dog muttered as he picked up on the two liquid's scents. They were both coming from a small table beside the lavish king-sized bed and Calvin padded over towards it, making sure to watch exactly where he stepped and such. Taking great care with his teeth, the teen managed to pull the drawer open and get a good look at the contents that were inside of it...and was absolutely befuddled.

"Receipts?"

Loose little pieces of paper were scattered about the lining of the drawer as Calvin got a good look at a few of them. Every one of them reeked of all the elements that Luther had said that he smelt back at the interrogation room, but he couldn't make heads or tails of what any of it meant. There were whatchamacallits and whozits and just a bunch of stuff that he was certain that nobody would use unless they were some sort of giant nerd like Sycamore was. Still, he couldn't just leave empty-handed. To him this stuff may be little more than engineering mumbo-jumbo, but who knows what happens if you lump it all together? Between the both of them, the brothers were completely inept in the workings of mechanical devices that didn't have to do with airplanes or mopeds, so they'd have to call up their friend in England to get the full rundown on all of this stuff…

"Should probably get moving. I don't need to be wasting any more moonlight than I already have."

A mouthful of the receipts were scooped up and distributed inside of the satchel before Calvin made his way back towards the door. His paw had barely even moved to push it open when he found himself jumping backwards to avoid getting hit in the face with it. Standing before him was the very person that he didn't want to have an encounter with; Professor Sycamore.

"! What the-?!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Calvin darted between the startled man's legs and started off down the hallway. And of course, the other pursued him. Out of everyone in the world, except for one, Sycamore knew that he was smarter than most, if not all, other dogs. That he had a conscious that he could comprehend, thoughts that divulged farther than the now and his natural instincts, which also meant that he wasn't going to let him just up and leave after invading his room. There were countless shouts behind him, calling him a 'mutt' and for him to 'sit' and 'stay'; that was another thing that pissed him off about Descole, he knew that he was intelligent and he could think on the same level as him….but he still treated him like he was nothing more than somebody's exotic little pet…

"Dammit, I said stop!"

His back legs thumped loudly against the carpeted hallway floors as the canine propelled himself forward with a sudden burst of speed to put some distance between him and his pursuer. There weren't any other people in these corridors, considering they were mostly reserved for high-rollers or some sort of important VIP and that he was grateful for. It'd be kinda hard to explain to Sheffield just why Luther's supposed dog was in the same hotel as the person that he had allegedly stolen from years ago, especially since it's be demonstrated that he was a well-accomplished animal trainer and that he's loyal without a fault…

Another discarded luggage trolley caught his attention and he rushed in front of it. All of his balance was placed on his forepaws as he reared up his hind legs before sending the trolley rocketing towards the oncoming man with a monstrous buck and watched as it hit its mark. Several loud curses could be heard as he saw the man trapped underneath the various bags of luggage before zooming off again. It'd buy him some time, but he didn't want to stick around and find out just how much. However, very shortly after, a sharp turn around a corner found him crashing into somebody's legs and he mentally cursed. Of course things start going wrong as soon as he gets some info, why would it? Before he could form a coherent thought on how to get away, the small dog was picked up the scruff of his neck and deposited in a nearby broom closet. A deep growl reverberated in his throat as he was about to unleash a loud bark to startle the man before him, but he looked...anxious, almost pleading for him to be quiet with a shushing gesture. The door was soon closed and Calvin found himself in the dark, both in the literal sense and not.

'Who the hell is this guy and why is he helping me? He better not be another one of those "Animal Preservation" nut jobs or he's going to get a nice little bite on the ass the minute he tries to breed me…'

His ears perked up when he heard manic panting coming towards their position and let his growls fall silent.

"Oh dear! A-are you quite alright, sir? You don't look well, did you fall?"  
"Nevermind that, I'm fine. Have you seen a bizarre creature pass through this hallway?"

"Hmm? Let's see-oh! That orange little doggy!"

"Yes! Where did it run off-"  
"Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry about this, sir! That little guy visits the hotel frequently, though I'm not sure how he keeps getting here."  
"?!"

Calvin felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. Wait, is he-?! This guy was throwing Sycamore off of his trail for him…

"He tracks down rooms that had previously had room service delivered to them and raids the leftovers. I swear, he must be part bloodhound to be able to track so well!"

"...I see."

"But he looked pretty spooked. You must've gave him a real fright, so the likelihood of him bothering you again is very low."

"...Indeed. Thank you and goodbye."

The other's footsteps faded into obscurity before the door was wrenched open once more. Another growl left the dog as he was picked up by the scruff of his neck and deposited in the man's elbow before they started making their way through the hotel. "M-Man! You are one weird dog! A-A-Astral must've paid a fortune to get you from….wherever you came from!" The growling stopped and Calvin looked at the man dumbfounded. There wasn't a doubt in his mind now; this guy was one of those Astral impersonators. He knew that he'd only been in this form with Luther once or twice through the city and that was before Astral even came into existence, when he was just an idea floating around in their heads. For someone to associate him with Astral, they'd have to know Luther's secret.

"D-don't worry, though! The secret's safe with us! And i-if you or him e-e-ever need help, we've got p-people in all of the major attractions; here you go!"

As the both of them waited for the elevator to come and get them, the stranger dug around in his pockets for a few seconds before pulling out a card. It was a beautiful card; it was fashioned in the shape of a…bird of some sort? The eyes seemed to made with small pieces of an orange gemstone of some sort and still shone even with the horrible lighting that the hallway had to offer. The elevator soon arrived and the man placed him inside with a small pat on the head before placing the card in front of him. There were a few tentative sniffs given to it before Calvin looked back up at the man with a curious gaze once more.

"D-Don't worry! We've almost got everything set up; Monte d'Or won't have a building standing once we're finished with it, r-r-right?"

The look of absolute bewilderment on Calvin's face was the last thing the man saw before the doors closed...


	8. Chapter 8

Hooves clacked against the metallic interior of the plane as Doughnut scampered about, playing with the small supernatural force that Deoxys conjured up from their egg form. Said egg form was situated on the pull-out workbench that the two brothers would use to study up on the mechanics of airplanes as well as use flashcards to teach the small fawn how to talk. Very few Pokemon that are born in the wild contract the ability to speak, but Doughnut was one of the lucky few that had been born with the gift and Luther was going to do his best to make sure that he would get somewhat of an education until he could get him to an actual school back in their homeworld.

"I don't see any cracks on the surface and you've been able to keep that little….whatever that is here for a lot longer than usual, Deoxys."

Gears buzzed and whirred as the automated jeweler's loupe situated on Luther's head rotated around the creature in their dormant state. A slight turn of a knob and the loupe moved closer to the stone to get a better perspective, but nothing of great concern could be seen besides a few scratches on the surface. A sigh of relief left the man as he removed the piece of equipment from his head and deposited it into an empty drawer of the workbench. From the looks of things, Deoxys appeared to be fully recovered from the experiments, but they wouldn't really be sure until they managed to regenerate into their physical form. Till then, Calvin and Luther were just going to have to look out for them…

"We'll have to see if you're regeneration is capable sooner or later, but with the police still keeping an eye on me." Being in the desert, there was really only one scent that both him and Calvin could detect and that was and. Yet, lately, when the wind blows to them from the direction of the city, they could detect the scent of the many police officers that guard the entrance into the city; a mixture of polyester, sweat and varying degrees of exhaustion. The chief was **really** running them ragged over this entire thing. But with them still keeping a close proximity to the plane, it was too much of a risk to test if Deoxys was capable of achieving their physical form. No, it would have to be prolonged until they could make it back to Quilzan, but that meant keeping them hidden for a bit longer, which would do nothing for the bubbling anxiety in his stomach. This entire situation had turned into a giant headache for him and he just wanted to be done with it…

"Oh well," he sighed out, "nothing we can do about it now." A button was pressed on the side of the table and it reinserted itself back into the wall as Luther held Deoxys. With a kick against the wall, a small compartment fell out and the extraterrestrial was gingery placed inside before being tucked away. That done, the man's attention went back to the little deer scampering about the plane. Excited "do's" came from him as he chased the strange anomaly around in a circle, but came to an immediate halt when it began to fizz out and violently pulsate. Luther was out of his chair and by Doughnut's side in a flash, pulling him away from the now unstable force in case it did anything to harm him. It continued to fizzle and distort until it finally dispersed into the air within the time span of about five seconds.

"That's never happened before," Luther mused as Doughnut whined at losing his friend, "is Deoxys not doing as well as I thought? No, no, that can't be it, but then-"

His nose twitched.

"...Doughnut, bathroom. Now." The severity of his tone stalled any inquiries that the fawn may have had and he quickly trotted inside, Luther closing the door behind him. From the corner of the room, he gripped onto a metallic bat; there were two new scents in the desert tonight and they were almost right at their door.

'It doesn't smell like Descole or Raymond, but who else-"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

In about three seconds, the man had juggled the bat, managed to trip over his pants leg and crash onto the bed before the bat landed broadside on his face with a soft 'smack'. While the man treated his possibly broken nose, he could hear a small reprimanding happening via the window.

"Randall! Now you've probably gone and scared the man half to death!"

"I'm just making sure he heard me, Angela. That's all!"

Once he was able to determine his nose was indeed not broken, though highly bruised, and his heart rate slowed to a rate that made him certain the organ wouldn't pump out of his chest, Luther made his way to the back of the plane and pressed the button needed to open the bay doors. "Y-Yes? Hello? Can I help you?" He didn't want his tone to give away just how much of a scare his two visitors had given him, but just like everything else that had been happening today, it didn't go as well as he had hoped…

"We're terribly sorry for the intrusion, sir." His eyes widened; wasn't she the woman that was with Mr. Ledore earlier?

'What was her name again,' he thought to himself, 'Angie?"

"My name is Angela Ascot-"

'Close enough.'

"-and this is my husband, Randall."

"Um? N-Nice to meet you?"

How odd. Why on earth would they suddenly get the urge to come and visit the man that lives alone in his airplane in the middle of the desert? Especially considering that he had been the main suspect in this entire disaster of a crime little more than a couple of hours ago. So why come and talk to him?

"Please forgive us if this sounds strange, but we've come to ask if you wished to join us for tea back at the manor."

"Tea?"

His eye shifted to take a look at a clock hanging on a nearby wall; did English people normally drink their tea at nine o'clock at night? Not that the guy who chugs fifteen small vanilla shakes almost every night should be judging… But still. Why not ask this hours ago when the sun was still up, why not ask when he was still in the city to prevent themselves from walking all of this way? Why invite a random stranger to their luxurious home? There was some ulterior motive to them coming here, he was sure of it. Now to just figure out what it is…

"Um. That's very kind of you, but, um...why?"

"Hershel asked us to!"

A stunned silence from Luther was the man's reward for his sudden outburst.

"Forgive Randall, he's….very spontaneous. The person he's referring to is Hershel Layton, I'm sure you've heard of him?"

Hershel Layton. Some articles in the papers here, a few rumors spreading around there and enough stories to peak his curiosity lead him to look in on the enigma. An esteemed archeology professor that teaches at Gressenheller college over in London; he'll admit that, at first, he didn't know what the big deal was. He just looked like a normal guy with a cylinder for a head who taught at a high-class university, which was meritable in itself, but not enough to attract worldwide attention like he had. It took a little more digging, but he managed to figure out that the man dabbled in the affairs of the police and often went out of his way to solve mysteries from all over. It was really remarkable….but put him in a rather tight spot.

"Y-yes, but….why is he here? I thought he taught at Gressenheller in London?"

"Oh no, he still does that! But he managed to get away from his classes to come and help with this new case a week after the theft. Seeing that you are, er, **were** the main suspect, he wants to speak with you about a couple of findings he's found." Angela explained.

'Of course he does,' the man thought. It was a compromising situation he was in. True, there should be no reason he would object to going to see the man, it was just tea and a few questions right? But there was Doughnut…. **and** Deoxys; he wished Calvin was here. This wouldn't be as much of a problem if he had someone to watch over them both, but with him out gathering intel, he was on his own. Leaving Deoxys unattended in itself is dangerous, but Doughnut was out of the question. The little deer was...he still needed him. Luther trusted the little one, he truly did. Sometimes even more than he trusts Calvin in certain situations! Doughnut could be very independent and handle himself as well, but there were things in this world….and in their own world that he needed to be taught about. There were...so many things.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" The woman inquired

"H-Huh?"

"You dozed off for a bit there. Is everything okay?" Mr. Ascot backed up.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry. I was just….thinking of what to do. Y-You see, I'm not alone in here."

"You aren't ?"

"...One second please."

There was no getting out of this. Sheffield was still keeping an eye on him; should Luther choose to refuse the invitation, there was a good chance that it would be reported to the chief. Not wanting to be questioned by a representative of the police force would be far too suspicious for him to dismiss and he'd strive to get some sort of warrant to search the plane. As well hidden as they were, Deoxys would still be susceptible to discovery and taken back to be experimented on and nobody wanted that. So, he'll just have to concede defeat, give in and go with them to have...tea. And he didn't even like tea all that much…

But first…

"Doughnut? I-It's safe, Doughnut. Come on out."

Silence from the couple as they looked at each other, confused and a little worried. Luther didn't blame them. If someone started randomly calling out the name of a baked pastry like it were a sentient being, that'd freak him out to. When the bathroom door creaked open, he heard Angela step behind Randall from the shifting of the sand under their feet. However, when Doughnut poked his little head out of the crack in the door, a large squeal came from who he had assumed to be Angela. Instead, he found Randall rushing over and kneeling in front of the child.

"Oh my gosh! They're so cute! What are they? Where'd you find them? Why is there a flower on their head?" These and a couple hundred more questions were spouted out in rapid succession as the other basically fangirled over the fawn. The sudden attention from the man sent Doughnut cowering behind Luther as he growled at the confused redhead while Luther felt an awkward smile come over his face.

"Sorry. Doughnut isn't really all that trusting of strangers, Mr. Ascot. Um. I-I can't leave him all alone in the plane here, h-he gets pretty a-antsy and tends to c-chew on things when I'm gone."

Very loud whines came from the kid as he stamped his front hooves down on the ground in indignation. Luther knew that wasn't the truth, but he needed to come up with a reason why he couldn't stay behind to convince them that he needed to come with. A small pat on the head was all the fawn was given to simmer his brooding mood before his guardian continued to speak on his behalf.

"I-If it's not too much trouble, c-could he, um, come along?"

A pause on Angela's part. "Well. Is he house trained?"

"Oh yes and very well if I might add."

"So long as he doesn't break anything, I suppose it'll be fine."

"Woohoo!"

A growl from Doughnut.

"Oh come on, Doughnut, at least **try** to warm up to him."

* * *

It was an...interesting trip to the manor. Mr. Ascot was a very excitable man, Luther came to realize, as he constantly bombarded him with questions about Doughnut. It was difficult to come up with vague enough answers to satisfy him, but he managed. Angela didn't speak much, only reigning her husband in when she saw that certain questions made their guest uncomfortable and simply inquired about generic things like his family and friends or what he does for a living. It was almost like she was completely detached from reality, but he didn't ask about it. He didn't see any reason to lie about the first subject, but he had to make something up for the second; being a mechanic for airplanes was something he could back up with proof if he ever needed to. All those hours cramming knowledge into his skull about the inner workings of airplanes would make sure of that. As for the youngest of this little quartet they had going on, Doughnut simply kept to himself and stayed by the only person he knew. Randall would try to coax him over with small little gestures, but the fawn would growl and slink further behind Luther whenever he did so. Though young, the child was no fool. He could see the tension in his guardian's shoulders and smell the sweat accumulating on his body, these people made him feel worried, so the fawn wouldn't trust them. Nuh uh!

"Here we are."

'Oh, thank god,' Luther thought. It was time to get this done and over with. During their walk, he had started to think a little more on the positive side of what this encounter could entail. As competent as Calvin was when it came to sneaking around to get information, time wasn't on their side in this situation. If Professor Layton was as good as all the articles made him out to be, he must've uncovered something of actual significance that could help him identify the person behind all of this.

The manor looked even more exquisite in the moonlight. Something about the warm lights aglow from the many windows gave it a cozy outlook, despite being so imposing in stature. There were even a few fireflies hiding in the grass, shining their green lights in a sporadic, unordered sense. Luther had to prop his foot out to keep Doughnut from charging onto the lawn and chasing the colorful little bugs. Walking up the large flight of stairs that lead to the front door gave enough time for a lump to develop in his throat; there were still so many things that could go wrong once he thought about it even more, what if those imposters had forged evidence to indict him further with the charges of being "Astral" or worse yet, move the blame onto Calvin. Despite being taller than his younger brother, they were still around the same build and, due to their species, had the same colored hair. It was a possibility that could be fabricated with an ease that made him hope that Calvin wouldn't confront whoever it was pulling the strings on their little operation. There was something emanating from deep within this city, he could feel it and he knew Calvin could to. It was like a storm was brewing amongst the cheerful smiles, the alluring flights of fancy that the casinos bestowed on the wide-eyed gambler, the vibrant neon lights; ever since this all started, he's been hit with these unexplainable feelings of dread when he sometimes came into the city and he knows the two things are connected. These people are up to something insidious and he wanted to stop them before they could do any harm to them or anybody else…

"Luther?"  
"A-ah!" There was a jerk reaction of taking a few steps backwards at the sudden intrusion into his thoughts. Had Doughnut not been there to stop him, he would've fallen right back down the steps.

"Are you sure you're in the condition to meet with Hershel? We can always come back to it tomorrow." Randall suggested.

"Oh no, no. I'm really sorry. M-my mind is just in a jumble today, t-that's all. I'm okay." A small smile tugged at his lips to assure them. They were such nice people; not to say that everyone in Monte d'Or wasn't nice, but they just seemed to be so genuinely worried about him. It was….nice. The pair exchanged a look between themselves before allowing themselves into the home. A small push to get Doughnut through the threshold and the both of them were inside. The fawn's hooves clicked against the porcelain floors of the manors foyer whilst being lead to the 'tea room'; Luther wasn't completely sure if there was a room associated simply with tea or not, but this was in the United Kingdom after all. He wouldn't really be all that surprised. Angela and Randall had fallen back behind him some, but thanks to his ears, he was still able to pick up on everything that was being said between the both of them.

"I'm going to go and check on him, Angela."  
"Are you sure? Maybe he needs a little time to himself right now, Randall."  
"Henry needs someone right now. Just listen in on what they say...and keep an eye on him."

"...Very well."

"Him." For some reason...he had a feeling that the person they were referring to wasn't himself. There was a lot of contempt in their scent, but it couldn't have been directed at him alone. It was only when he got closer and closer to their destination that he started to pick up on a couple of scents; there was the unmistakable aroma of tea, Earl Grey if he's correct, leather from couch cushions and….wait. Something smelt...familiar to him. His mind was a steel trap when it came to scents, but this one was alluding him for some reason. It was bizarre. The only time this ever truly happens is if he was acquainted with the scent, but only for a small time.

A small twitch of his nose.

Upon entering the room, he immediately realized who had been smelling. "R-Raymond? Is that you?"

"Nice to see you again, Luther." The old man gave a small bow. Unlike his master, Luther had always liked Raymond. It was nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't either ordering him to work two more hours or another screaming at you to just quit already. He always had someone to gripe to with Raymond around...so long as he didn't cross any boundaries. It was just another regret that he's had to shuffle around with. But wait! If Raymond's here, then!

"U-u-u-um? W-where's D-D-D-"

"Apologies. I'm afraid my master will not be in attendance this evening. He has other matters of business to attend to."  
"O-O-Other?"

'Calvin. Please, **please** be okay,' the man thought.

"Luther, you... **know** Raymond?"

"H-huh?" The sound of Angela's voice startled him almost half to death, how long had she been listening?

"Y-Y-Yes! I worked alongside him with-"  
"You worked with Jean Descole?!"

"...Uuuuuuuuuuuh." A bead of sweat started to trickle down his face. It seems a few things had been shared amongst hosts and guests before he had gotten here…

"W-W-W-Well! I-I-I-um-I was! T-The thing is I-I just! I-It-s not!"

A pause.

A sheepish grin. "I-I got nothing."


End file.
